Build, build, build – but what is missing from the Planning and Infrastructure Bill?

With the publication of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the government has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to give communities the tools they need to thrive – but a crucial dimension is missing. Local Trust’s policy and parliamentary manager, Tilly Steward, argues for the essential role community social infrastructure has to play.  

Last week, the government introduced its much anticipated Planning and Infrastructure Bill, marking one of the major milestones in Labour’s programme to deliver the ‘biggest building boom in a generation’.

The aim? Meeting the party’s ambitious pledge to build 1.5m new homes and fast-track 150 major infrastructure projects by 2029.

The draft legislation follows the release of a working paper in January, which set out the government’s wider plans for its forthcoming 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy. This will be finalised alongside June’s multi-year spending review and outline the government’s approach to core economic infrastructure.

Crucially, for the first time it will also bring together plans for housing and social infrastructure – narrowly defined in the working paper as hospitals, schools, colleges and prisons.

Both documents are missing a crucial dimension: the foundational contribution of community social infrastructure – our shared civic spaces, places and facilities.

It’s clear Labour sees these two strands as essential for delivering their national missions around growth, housing, clean energy and net zero, and improved public services.  

But as plans currently stand, both documents are missing a crucial dimension: the foundational contribution of community social infrastructure – our shared civic spaces, places and facilities.

Community social infrastructure: A disappearing resource 

A rapid evidence review by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport found that community social infrastructure facilitates the development of vital social capital – the support and resources available to individuals and communities through their social networks and relationships.

This can be either: 

• Directly: Where physical infrastructure is used to bring people together in one space, for example a community hub or green space. 

• Indirectly: Where infrastructure enables individuals within a community to connect with one another (such as transport or digital connectivity). 

Worryingly, the review also confirmed a decline in the volume and condition of this social infrastructure in recent years, marked by a ‘decrease in funding for, and closure of, civic institutions and community spaces’.

While this trend is national, its impact is most felt in communities which are both highly deprived and already lacking in community provision, as we outlined in our policy spotlight paper.  

These doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods have the lowest density of places and spaces to meet, the weakest levels of community activity, and the poorest digital and transport connections. Their lack of social infrastructure compounds existing levels of deprivation and leads to worse socio-economic outcomes across nearly every indicator – from health, to education and employment. 

Alongside building social and human capital, community places and spaces play an important role in stimulating local economies, providing job opportunities and creating environments that are more attractive for investment. 

How social infrastructure can help deliver the government’s plan for change 

Neighbourhood-level social infrastructure is vital for building strong, prosperous communities: the necessary foundation for achieving the government’s mission objectives.  

As part of research into delivering ‘good jobs’ for doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods, the Centre for Progressive Policy found a ‘consistently positive relationship between investment in social capital or social infrastructure and economic growth’.  

Alongside building social and human capital, community places and spaces play an important role in stimulating local economies, providing job opportunities and creating environments that are more attractive for investment. 

Evidence into the association between social capital and improved outcomes also points to the role of social infrastructure as a deliverable and affordable route to reduce demand on public services.  

As outlined in our recent social capital series with Demos and 3ni, the national network for neighbourhood improvement, higher levels of community connection and neighbour-to-neighbour support can create a protective shield for children and families, support people to live healthier lives, and reduce the likelihood of individuals committing crimes.

Getting reform right: A once-in-a-generation opportunity 

Getting these reforms right is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to give communities the tools they need to thrive and to ensure opportunities for growth are spread more evenly across the country.  

Local Trust will be drawing on more than a decade of learning from delivering the Big Local programme – which has informed a significant evidence base on how to shift the dial in our most disadvantaged neighbourhoods – to advocate for appropriate provision of community social infrastructure as part of any major infrastructure projects, including new towns.

As the government moves towards a revitalised programme of national housebuilding and infrastructure investment, it must seize the moment to build prevention and resilience into the design of new developments from the outset.  

Without social infrastructure, Labour’s plans risk creating the doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods of the future. With it, they can help support the conditions for sustainable community activity for generations to come. 

To find out more or contribute to Local Trust’s work on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, please get in touch with our policy team at policy@localtrust.org.uk

Featured photo: A model of the plans for development at Newington Community Centre. Photo: Local Trust/Ben Langdon